What a Joy to Serve! - Reflections from a Professional Development Week by Mel Hart
It’s been nearly three months since I stepped into my new role as Artistic Producer with Nova Dance, and what a journey it’s already been. Each day brings a new layer of discovery—from meetings with presenters and directors, to navigating organizational online platforms to writing proposals for various funding bodies. Along the way, I’m getting to know both the inner workings of the Nova Dance organization and the wider dance ecology it’s connected to. It may be winter, but I’m feeling like a bee—buzzing with excitement and ready to spread art and joy!
This past November, Nova Dance entered the second phase of a two-year project led by the National Ballet School (NBS), in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Indus Community Services titled “Scaling Up and Evaluating Sharing Dance Older Adults with People Living with Dementia in Historically Excluded Communities.” Nova Dance’s participation in this project is part of our ongoing commitment to fostering connections between health and art, serving the community, and ensuring that the benefits of dance are shared with diverse communities by artists with shared lived experiences.
Together with NBS researcher and Sharing Dance Older Adults facilitators Rachel Bar and Megan Ferris, Nova Bhattacharya and I co-designed a Professional Development week for artist facilitators of the South Asian diaspora. These artists were not only highly skilled, but deeply aligned in values of creative collaboration, community care, and expanding understanding of life with dementia. The dance artists included Ankita Alemona, Reshmi Chetram, Neena Jayarajan, Nyda Kwasowsky, Vrunda Upadhyay, myself and musician Dhaivat Jani. This artist roster was stacked with expertise, lived experience, and diverse artistic perspectives. The tender magic that unfolded when such passionate creatives gathered exceeded my expectations, and I left the experience with an immensely grateful heart.
The week wove together the sharing of artistic practices, research, and learning around stigma related to dementia, dance, and aging—through film, discussion, and community-based experiences in the field of Sharing Dance Older Adults (SDOA). As part of the research study, artists completed reflective journals documenting their experiences and worked in groups to co-design dance workshops to be delivered within the Indus community centres serving predominantly South Asian populations.
While the work felt right up our alley, I didn’t anticipate how deeply impactful the experience would be. Consistent check-ins and open discussions led artists to share personal reflections connected to family, culture, and identity, while collectively unpacking stigma around dementia and dance. The camaraderie, respect, and support for one another grew each day.
As we heard from NBS facilitators about their experiences delivering SDOA classes, we artists felt trusted to lean into our expertise, collaborating and drawing from our individual movement, languages, ancestral knowledge, and cultural practices. Working with musician Dhaivat Jani and incorporating live music added yet another layer of inspiration, fostering creativity, responsiveness, and presence in the room.
One of the most memorable moments for me was our visit to the Indus Community Service Centre in Mississauga. We had the opportunity to put our ideas into practice, infusing the space with imagination, creativity, and fun! Ankita, Vrunda, and I guided dancers on a movement journey through a forest, exploring elements of land, water, and air, connecting to our senses and transporting ourselves into a new world. Dhaivat supported our voices and energy, and the music became a bridge between artists, dancers, and memory. Together we reminisced on their homeland, at times Ankita and Vrunda spoke in their native tongue and we witnessed the dancers connect to each other and bring more of themselves into each movement. Dancing from a seated position, our circle with over 30 dancers plus support staff and our team, shared in laughter, sound, and positive energy, and the joy overflowed!
Throughout the week, there were countless moments when I felt overwhelming gratitude - to do what I love, and to share it within a supportive space we created together, with people who so deeply deserved the opportunity to dance. My heart felt soft and tender, and at times, tears flowed.
Dance belongs beyond formal spaces. It can be shared, adapted, and deeply enjoyed later in life. The next stage of the project will see our artist facilitators delivering weekly workshops over a two-month period, and we cannot wait to dance again with the Indus community. Nova Dance remains committed to discovering new ways to deliver impactful programming and to collaborate with incredible partners like Indus so we can continue bringing joy and connection through dance for all ages and abilities.
With one Professional Development Week under my belt, I look forward to expanding my skills, deepening my creativity, and uplifting community in life-changing ways with Nova Dance!
A short poem to close.
What a joy! to serve others
Spark connection
Inspiration
Leads to laughter.
Life is but many journeys
Make eye contact Make sounds
It’s YOUR choice
We are special
Holding hands.
In a circle, finding family
Honouring full lives
Everyone together
Dancing always.
Mel Hart